ODENTON, MD– In their last match-up of the regular season, the Maryland Black Bears welcomed the Northeast Generals. While Friday night was marred with self-inflicted errors by Maryland, they were able to come back on Saturday to salvage a split on the weekend.
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 2nd, 2024: BLACK BEARS (4) vs. Northeast (6): While trying to get off to a quick start, the Black Bears found themselves getting too aggressive for the officials’ liking, collecting an early penalty. At the end of that penalty, Andrew DellaDonna put Northeast on the board, picking up a loose puck in front and putting it behind Colin Ronan for the 1-0 scoreline. The Black Bears kept digging, throwing plenty of pucks at Petter Wickstrom, finally breaking through with Riley Ruh finding a loose puck at the side of the net and cashing in his eighth of the season to tie the score. With the pressure continuing, the Black Bears doubled their score late in the frame with Tyler Stern ripping home a shot over Wickstrom’s shoulder to make it 2-1 going into the first intermission.
Defensive zone woes would haunt the Black Bears, as early in the second– a turnover next to the net allowed Ben Campeau to tie the score, firing a shot through a screen. Maryland would get the lead back with Ryder Nienhuis tapping home a nice pass from Trayce Johnson to make it 3-2 at that point. Another penalty for Maryland resulted in Joseph DeGraw netting his 16th on a redirection in front to even the score at three. However, 42 seconds later, Johnson would notch his fifth of the year with David Utkin finding him streaking down the slot to give the Black Bears the lead going into the third period.
Yet, the bad luck would continue in the defensive zone for Maryland, with Ronan banking a clearing attempt off the calf of a defender and into the net to tie the score and giving Ryan Remick credit for his 20th goal of the year. At the next whistle, Owen Lepak would replace Ronan for the remainder of the game. At the halfway point of the frame, a failed clearing attempt by Maryland landed on the stick of Frank D’Ancona who wired over the shoulder of Lepak to make it 5-4 Northeast. While Maryland would push the offense, they couldn’t find a bounce to go in their direction and an empty-net goal from Sixten Jennersjo sealed the 6-4 Northeast win.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 3rd, 2024: BLACK BEARS (4) vs. Northeast (1): Looking for swift revenge, the Black Bears got on the puck early, putting pressure on Toby Hopp of Northeast. They would break through 7:40 in with Sam Stitz redirecting a Cal Hutson point shot to give Maryland the first goal. Northeast looked to tie the game, but were called on an interference call to give the Black Bears a power play. On that ensuing power play, Dylan Gordon netted his fourth of the year, connecting on a Ryder Nienhuis pass to make it 2-0 for Maryland. Owen Lepak was solid in net, stopping all nine shots he faced.
After a messy end to the first period, leading to ten-minute misconduct for four players– two on each side– the Black Bears went back at it in the second period. Maryland extended their lead in the middle of the frame with Magnus Gadowsky cleaning up a rebound from Luke Rubin to make it 3-0 for Maryland.
Things got a little dicey in the third, as Northeast got on the board after a miscue from Lepak when handling the puck, leading to Jake Gutwirth getting his sixth of the season and getting Northeast to within two. However, that’s as close as they would get as Lepak and the defense locked out the chances against, while Nienhuis would collect his seventh goal of the year from a one-timer during a power play to extend the Black Bears lead to 4-1. While Northeast were trying to goad Maryland into shenanigans late in the game, the Black Bears stayed disciplined and go into the bye week with a victory.
The Black Bears are off this coming weekend, but will get back to play with their final trip to Rochester to take on the Jr. Americans on February 16th and 17th. All action can be caught on NAHL TV.
Clutch And Crab Hockey 